Image information, particularly printed black and white or color, is normally represented in gray level formats containing a large number of levels, e.g.: 256 levels for black and white and more than 16 million (256 cubed) levels of color. Such color levels are clearly not all printable by standard printers or displayable in electrical devices, and so some selection process is necessary to choose those limited number of available colors which are actually to be viewed.
Many well known commercial enterprises have proprietary marks which are commonly used as an identifier of most goods or services of the entity, and thus are almost universally included in all commercial materials and correspondence. Most such designations are registered trademarks. For example, the Xerox red pixelated design “X” (Trademark Registrations Nos. 2,077,700 and 2,078,823, Pantone® 032), the lined design IBM blue (Registration No. 1,205,090, Pantone® 3718) or the PEPSI® fanciful design (Registration No. 2,321,907) are “famous” marks and recognizable patterns. The specific colors are also very important and usually part of the corporate identity, and so should be accurately printed or displayed. For example, the PEPSI® red is a different red than the COCA COLA® red. The reason owners of such valuable designations are particularly concerned about the accurate display and printing of their marks, is because the imaging can occur over a variety of different systems and practiced by a variety of different clients and customers. A failure in accurate printing can dilute a mark's distinctive nature. Consistent accuracy in the imaging of such marks enhances the distinguishing nature of the mark and protects and maintains its integrity and value.
Printing systems are known where a customer can specify a location in an image for a particular pattern printed in a required color (see related pending application Ser. No. 09/221,996). Any such customer specification though, requires defined color space coordinates or a color name (e.g., Pantone®) or reference image as a recognizable pattern. Such systems are usually fairly accurate in guaranteeing the desired results, however, they are not practical enough for most commercial printing operations. There is a need for a system which can simplify the definition of desired registered colors for minimizing delays in the commercial printing environment where there is a stream of documents to be printed containing a variety of registered trademark patterns and colors.
To implement such a system, a print engine or system requires a means for conveniently storing an accessing definition of registered patterns and colors versus color space coordinates or Pantone® names and pattern names for identifying the accurate colors to be printed where such colors mostly will occur and what shape or pattern they will form. Importantly though, an interface must conveniently permit a user to designate when a proprietary color is to be imaged by identification of the mark in association with the appropriate pattern and color. The successful control of the tagging, tracking and guaranteeing of the desired color in a simple and convenient user interface is the subject of the present invention.